re: Scenario: Arky to Cotton - LSU to Outback?

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If SC upsets AU tomorrow, Arky would likely get the Cotton.

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Cotton Bowl officials informed LSU athletic director Joe Alleva and the Southeastern Conference office on Thursday that they will select the Tigers for their bowl if LSU is still available after the selection by the Capital One Bowl, which picks one spot before the Cotton Bowl on Sunday and gets first crack at SEC teams after the Bowl Championship Series bowls.

"I can tell you that we have talked with LSU athletic director Joe Alleva, and we have communicated to him and also to the Southeastern Conference office that LSU is our No. 1 choice," Cotton Bowl chairman Tommy Bain said in a phone interview Thursday night.

"We have said that we will take LSU when it comes to our turn to pick, no matter who else is on the table," Bain said. "We will choose LSU if they're available. So we've communicated that to both parties."

The Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl, however, has a reputation for always picking the highest ranked team possible with the better record, and that would be BCS No. 10 LSU. Alabama, which lost to LSU 24-21 in Baton Rouge on Nov. 6, is No. 16 in the BCS. The Capital One Bowl, though, just had LSU last season and also in the 2004 season. And the Orlando, Fla., bowl has shown a lot of interest in the defending national champion Crimson Tide as it has never played in the Capital One Bowl. Alabama last played in Orlando on Jan. 2, 1995 in the Citrus Bowl, beating Ohio State 24-17.

"The Capital One Bowl could still take LSU," Bain said. "They have that option. It seems to me though, based on the communications we've had, that they're looking at Alabama. But that's one you never know until you make the decision."

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